Sorry for keeping that promise
by DatSasukegirl
Summary: Sakura has always loved Sasuke. A couple of years ago, she gave him a promise to always support him. But why is she so sad, now when she's finally living with him? Why can't she stop thinking of Konoha, and what does Sasuke think about her?
1. Chapter 1

_disclaimer_ - I do not own these characters or places, this is just a fan fiction.

* This is my first try. I haven't written any fan fiction before... I'm trying to figure out how you do ^^Thanks to Maria-san who's an angel and helps me with alot with the translating... :D!

* * *

Sakura had never been by _The Valley of End_ before. It was the place some called The Battlefield of Rivals. Even though she as a child often had heard stories about the fight that was the cause behind the giant statues of Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama, she never could have imagined the place so… alive.

But to her the place wasn't about them.

It was here that Naruto and Sasuke had fough each other four years ago. A struggle that symbolized broken friendship and that had resulted in Sasuke severing Naruto from his life by turning his back to him. The few sentences she had got to hear about how their battle had occurred had made her despise the place. Sakura had associated it with blood and grey stone. Not like this…

The waterfall which gushed down between the two statues was made of turquoise water. It was a colorful fall that descended and eventually became one with the calm of the lake.

The wind was toying with Sakura's short pink hair when she stood and watched the scenery. She stood on the crest of a steep rocky hill and looked down upon the center of the lake. For a moment she fantasized about how the fight between the two former members of team 7 had occured down there.

She sat down on the ledge and let her legs swing freely over the escarpment. A strange feeling she had though she had been able to suppress surfaced and ached in her stomach. She guided her hand towards her heart and shut her eyes.

_Take me with you if you can't stay here. Everyday, we'd do something fun. We'd be happy, I swear! Please… Sasuke. I will do anything for you._

Were those the word she had said?

Sakura wiped a tear off her cheek with a fist and steeled herself. Her body was stiff but the tears found their way out regardless. When she realized her face was moist her breath ruptured. With her face in her hands, she cried so much her shoulders shook. A moan of angst escaped her efforts of holding back, but the sounds she made disappeared in the rumbling of the waterfall.

_Let it out_, said a voice inside of her. _Wasn't that why you came here? To be able to cry without letting him see your pain?_

Sakura had been sitting there for over an hour when she wiped the last tears away with her damp leather gloves. She rose to leave for home when she spotted two dots moving about down by the lake, a way off from the statues of Madara and Hashirama. She squinted her eyes and leaned forward.

It was such a long time since she had seen any new faces. If she kept herself hidden in the woods no one would notice if she went and took a closer look. There were two people who either looked like they were fighting or training. In the shade of the trees she silently crept down the rocky hill and stopped when she was close enough.

"Just like that, Hinata! The chakra is formed more easy if you can feel it in your body. Try to attack me now, and you will see what a difference it makes!"

Sakura's eyes widened and she pressed herself against the trunk of a tree. _Naruto!_ It couldn't be true. On the opposite side of the lake she saw a blond young man. He was standing with his back against her and was dressed in a long, red coat with black flames. The black ends of his konoha protector fluttered in the wind.

"Li…like this, Naruto-kun?"

Sakura could not move even an inch, but managed to switch her gaze towards the girl accompanying Naruto. Hyuga Hinata, the girl she had spent so much time together with during earlier years stood opposite Naruto with one palm facing him. Her blue hair was now very long. It wasn't the short girl with a fragile body composition anymore. Even at this distance Sakura could see that Hinata was both longer and stronger than she herself was.

Sakura huddled at the sound of Naruto's laughter echoing, before he went to Hinata and pulled her into his arms.

"I'm sorry… Naruto… It must be so annoying when I'm claiming so much of your time… Especially when I'm not progressing…"

"Nonsense! You are strong, Hinata. Never doubt that", said Naruto and laughed. His voice was warmer than Sakura remembered it. More mature, in a way. It hit her that they were all so much older now. She would turn nineteen in a month.

"I'm going to train every day", Hinata said while still leaning into Naruto's chest. "… so I can help you find Sasuke again. And Sakura, if she is with him."

"I _know_ she is with him. Ever since you got that letter I could feel it."

"I… I hope so."

Sakura tore her eyes off the couple. She didn't want to hear anymore. Not a word. An indescribably strong feeling inside her motioned her to run to them. She wanted to hug them, tell them that she was alive, that she missed them and that her thoughts were with them constantly. But… they weren't friends anymore. I didn't matter how much she wanted to step out from her hiding place and show herself; there was nothing to gain by reuniting with Naruto again. Or Hinata. Or anyone in Konoha at all.

That she had known ever since she joined Sasuke and became a part of his life.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

"Use your byakugan and call out when you don't see me anymore!" Naruto said suddenly. Sakura had been standing and observing them from her spot on the rocky hill for a long time. She gasped when she realized that Hinata could be able to see her with her eyes, and was even more aghast when Naruto leaped towards her direction.

Hinata _would_ see her.

Sakura did a backflip and rushed up the ridge again. Behind her she heard the water splashing form Naruto's steps. She threw a glance at him and stumbled blindly across one of the roots slithering across the path. Sakura bit down on her teeth when she fell down in the mud. Something scratched against her face. She stumbled back onto her feet and turned to the side instead, even though that was the steepest path to take. She jumped and ran over the loose stones, fell again and got up, until she was out of sight of Naruto and Hinata and could lean forward and recover for a few seconds.

Her body was frank with her about not having trained or fought at all during the last four years. The falls down the ridge hadn't been a problem for her, had it been in the days she lived as a ninja. Now it felt like she was going to pass out. Her arms were red from cuts and her face was stinging. Sakura wiped blood of her cheek with her thumb and leaned forward with her palms on her thighs. She looked around but didn't see any sings of anyone having discovered her. Her chest hurt a bit.

She turned around and hurried away.

It took more than five hours to run home. She ran in riddles through the woods and didn't care that dusk fell. Sakura knew that there was no rush, since Sasuke had left and would be away for two more days at least. And it was wise to shake off the worried feeling that Naruto and Hinata would follow her.

It was dark when se arrived at Orochimaru's old hideout. She looked around just in case, and then slunk down through the hole in the ground that took her to the stone tunnels under ground. Torches lit up the path through the tunnels, past dungeons en empty rooms, until she came to the end of the corridor. There she turned right, went through their kitchen and then to her bedroom. Sakura lit some candles in the desk and sat in front of the mirror. She noted that her pink hair and white shirt had gotten speckled with mud. Tiredly she studied her image in the mirror, without noticing the dark shadow cast on the floor behind her.

His voice made her jump.

"Where have you been?"

Sakura let out her breath and turned around. She went stiff when she saw Sasuke sitting on the bed, leaning forward. His underarms resting against his thighs and his face obscured by shadow.

"Sasuke…"

"I thought you knew the rules."

"I… Sorry… I didn't know you were coming home. You said earliest tomorrow!"

Sasuke turned his head. The onyx colored eyes landed on her. "Hn."

"Sas…"

"You seize the opportunity to leave as soon as I go."

"No." Sakura shook her head. "I'm sorry, I just needed some fresh air."

"Air?" Sasuke got up from the bed and walked up to her. He was dressed in a black, partially unbuttoned yukata. "You run off and remains gone for several hours because you need _air_?" His voice was low, but it trembled of fury. Sasuke drew his fingers across his eyes and then looked at her with a blank expression. She swallowed and looked down at the floor when it felt like she had let him down.

"I am sorry…"

"When you came here four years ago you said that you would do everything to see to my wishes if I let you stay. You said you would be my ally, no matter what happened, Sakura." His voice was so devoid of tone it frightened her more than if he had been angry. She didn't understand what he was getting at. "You said you would never miss your life in Konoha."

Sakura froze.

_He knew._ Her eyes widened but she did not dare look up out of fear of crying again. She clutched her fingers on her thighs and shook her head. "I'm not", she whispered.

"You have even started to lie to me." He moved away from her, towards the kitchen door. Sakura did not want him to leave.

"Sasuke" I only needed some time on my own. I would never let you down, I promise."

He stopped with his back towards her. She thought she heard him sigh, but wasn't sure. "What happened to your cheek?"

"What?"

"You are injured. What happened?"

She turned to the mirror and saw a scratch running the length of her cheekbone. Perhaps it would not heal without scarring. "Nothing serious. Something nicked me. A twig maybe", she said.

"Go to Tiuga, and he will heal it immediately", said Sasuke and then left the room. Sakura stayed in the chair for a long time after the door had closed. She was ashamed that Sasuke had caught her red handed with being away. She knew she wasn't allowed because of the reason that no one could know where their hideout was.


End file.
